OSU's 1913 main library, where staff in the basement special-collections stacks have reported the rustling of a dress — attributed by local lore to first head librarian Olive Branch Jones.
1858 Neil Avenue Mall, Columbus, OH 43210
Age
All Ages
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Free
Free public access to most floors during library hours.
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Wheelchair OK
Fully renovated 306,000 sq ft library with elevators throughout
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Photos OK
Est. 1913 · Ohio State University History · Olive Branch Jones (librarian career 1899-1933) · Academic Library Architecture · 2009 Renovation
Construction of OSU's main library was completed on December 18, 1912, and the building opened to the university community on January 6, 1913. It was named for William Oxley Thompson, OSU's fifth president, who was in office during construction.
The library has undergone three major renovations: a 1951 expansion, a 1977 modernization, and a substantially larger 2007-2009 project that added new wings, opened a central atrium, and brought the building's gross floor area to roughly 306,000 square feet. The $108.7 million 2009 renovation was the most consequential rebuild in the library's history and reorganized circulation, special collections, and study spaces.
Olive Branch Jones, the library's first full-time librarian, served the university from 1899 to 1933 — a 34-year tenure during which she built the collection from a few thousand items to more than 300,000. The OSU University Archives published a biographical entry on her under the title 'Olive Branch Jones, Librarian, 1900.' She remains a documented figure in the library's institutional history, distinct from the folklore that has accumulated around her name.
Sources
Per The Lantern's 2014 'New encounters bring Ohio State hauntings to light,' library workers stationed in the basement special-collections stacks have reported footsteps in empty rows, the soft rustling of a long dress moving past, and — in at least one case — the sight of a woman in a black dress walking through the stacks.
The Lantern's account adds the key narrative detail: staff who had reported the experiences were later shown a photograph of Olive Branch Jones, OSU's first full-time librarian, and described being 'shaken' by the resemblance to the woman they had seen. Because Jones is a documented historical figure (the University Archives publishes her biographical record), the folklore attaches to a real individual rather than an anonymous apparition.
The lore is anchored to the lower-level special-collections stacks. The 2009 renovation reorganized but did not eliminate the special-collections space, and reports have continued sporadically since.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Thompson Library is open to the public during library hours, including the main reading rooms and the atrium. Special-collections access requires advance request. The lower-level stacks are the locus of the Olive Branch Jones lore but are not casually accessible to visitors.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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